POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



717 



dulum motions during the past ten years 

 show that the earth tremors of Japan have 

 no direct relation to its earthquakes. Rec- 

 ords of both have been kept. A well- 

 marked periodic tilt of the land has been 

 detected, corresponding to a rise of the land 

 on the northeast side, and a more rapid 

 subsidence of it again. Similar effects had 

 been recorded in Germany, but of much 

 smaller amplitude. In Germany, barometric 

 changes caused the tilting, but the relation 

 between the two was not so marked in Ja- 

 pan ; there may possibly, however, be some 

 connection of them with magnetic influences. 

 The directions of earthquake motions and of 

 earth tremors across Japan were each at 

 right angles to the mountain axis of the 

 country, a fact which suggests that both are 

 caused by crumpling of the mountains round 

 their axis. The observations of earth tre- 

 mors had gone so far as to demand atten- 

 tion from practical astronomers and others. 

 When a tremor occurred it i-endered delicate 

 weighing impossible, inasmuch as the bal- 

 ance swung irregularly and altered its zero. 

 Similarly astronomical observations would be 

 upset. A practical outcome of the commit- 

 tee's reports was the alteration in the design 

 of bridges in Japan. After earthquakes it 

 was found that bridges and other masonry 

 gave way at the base ; the form of a wall or 

 pier had been calculated which, on being 

 subjected to a horizontal reciprocating medi- 

 um, would be equally likely to break at any 

 part. 



Mount Tacoma. An effort is making by 

 the citizens of Tacoma, Washington, to re- 

 store to their lofty and graceful mountain to 

 which the name Rainier has been attached 

 its aboriginal designation of Tacoma. This 

 term, according to the analysis of it by the 

 Hon. James Wickersham, quoted in F. G. 

 Plummer's Illustrated Guide Book, means 

 " snow-covered mountain." The mountain is 

 in full view from the city of Tacoma, bearing 

 south, 56 east, a distance of forty-four miles. 

 It stands about twelve miles west of the 

 Cascade Range, and its entire drainage flows 

 westward into Puget Sound and the Colum- 

 bia River. It " has the form of a dome sur- 

 mounted by three small peaks, with a maxi- 

 mum elevation of fifteen thousand feet. It 

 rises almost from the sea-level; and as its 



average diameter at the base is about twenty 

 miles, its mass is roughly estimated at two 

 hundred cubic miles. Upon its slopes on 

 every side are enormous glaciers and ice- 

 fields, arranged on radial lines and forming 

 a system that for extent and grandeur is un- 

 excelled on the earth. The limit of perpet- 

 ual snow is at four thousand feet, but the 

 timber line extends much higher. Natural 

 groves, meadows, and prairies surround the 

 mountain, except where the I'iver caiions and 

 glaciers cut the slopes. Upon the northeast 

 the Urania, Blaine, Inter, and Winthrop gla- 

 ciers drain into White River and thence to 

 Duwamish Bay. To the northeast the Car- 

 bon, Willis, North Mowich, South Mowich, 

 and Pugallup glaciers form the Pugallup 

 River, which flows to Tacoma harbor. To 

 the southwest the Tahoma, Kautz, Van 

 Trump, Nisqually, and Paradise glaciers 

 drain into the Nisqually River, which flows 

 through Succotash Valley to Puget Sound. 

 The Cowlitz River is the drainage from the 

 Cowlitz, Willinakas, and Little Willinakas 

 glaciers, and flows into the Columbia River." 

 The mountain is reached from Tacoma by 

 electric railway, eleven miles to Lake Park, 

 stages to Paradise Park, sixty-seven miles 

 from the city, and thence by a day's hard 

 work climbing nine thousand feet up in 

 seven miles. Mr. Plummer's Guide Book 

 (Tacoma, Wash.) is full of information about 

 the mountain, clearly and precisely given. 



Dr. Alfred L. Carroll. Dr. Alfred Lud- 

 low Carroll, of New York, who died October 

 30, 1893, was a physician of high standing, 

 a vigorous writer on subjects of medicine, 

 sanitation, and hygiene, and an active la- 

 borer for the elevation of the standards of 

 medical science and practice and the diffu- 

 sion of sound principles of hygiene. A full 

 sketch of his life has been prepared by 

 Dr. J. W. S. Gouley for the New York 

 State Medical Association, from the advance 

 sheets of which, kindly furnished us by him, 

 we gather that he was born in New York 

 city, August 3, 1833, the son of parents of 

 good scholarship and refined tastes. He be- 

 gan the study of his profession when eight- 

 een years of age, with Dr. Valentine Mott, 

 expecting to become a surgeon, but after- 

 ward turned his attention to general medi- 

 cine. He began to contribute to the med- 



